Ex-rebels walk into Gadchiroli’s 1st AC theatre, surprised by film based on them

NAGPUR: Flickering light from the screen lit up faces once feared in the forests. A group of surrendered Maoists, some with children in tow, stepped out of guarded camps Tuesday and into Gadchiroli’s first air-conditioned theatre – to watch Ghaath, a Marathi film based on the very insurgency they once bled for, reports Shishir Arya.No warning. No clue. Just an invitation. They walked into Picturetime Digital’s compact hall, unaware they’d be watching their lives unfold on celluloid. “It was a surprise,” said director Chhatrapal Ninawe. “They were not told the movie was based on Maoists.”Ghaath, which premiered at Berlin Film Festival in 2023, lays bare the fractures within left-wing extremism – from ideological drift to internal betrayal.

Shot in the rough terrain of Gondia and Bhandara, Ghaath mirrors the topography and tension of Gadchiroli.“The movie shows it all,” said Ninawe. “Internal dissent, disillusionment, fading idealism. They said the story rang true – except the end.” The protagonist, a surrendered rebel, dies. Many in the audience disagreed. “They wanted him to live – to show a way forward,” said Ninawe.For several children, it was the first time inside a theatre. Gadchiroli had a cinema hall before but closed due to insurgency. Built with district development funds, the new one opened in May with Chhaava, a film on Sambhaji Maharaj.